18 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION I9 watchman patrols the streets with a gang.However,the town's they will call themselves Chinamen.A race of Chinese thus grows up who population is no within these gates.Outside areat east blood in them. nine more or less clearly marked clusters of houses.Each of these This process can still bese gon on in Western Chin.One comes clusters is called a village.Within the four gates,each street,or across tribes in all states of transformation. each section of a street,is also designated as a village .of the men of the tribes of Western China have so With come under The chen chang has charge of the public affairs of the town. theofthe Chinese toadop their dres e women the case is different and the wo Under him is a small police force supported by the town.The eodrsyfoms the distinctive mark apart. racial origin of the inhabitants is a moot question.Generally After the adoption of Chinese dress by the men,their next step isthe speaking,both the ownand the district well as their satel- learning of the Chinese language.After a few more generations lite villages in the entire area form one of the Min Chia colonies even the women will learn to speak Chinese.This st erhaps in Yunnan.Yet all the inhabitants of West Town and of eight of does not take long for the tribe to bec creached thoroughl inese in their the nine near-by villages insist that their origin is Chinese.All women take to Chinese dress and to binding their the tran rmation is complete. have legends about the migration of their ancestors from some have watched this process going on with Lo-Los,Shans,Las. and central provinces into Yunnan.The most frequently given place for the original habitat of these ancestors is"Nanking,"a place mixed race,and the use of the chine which bears,however,little semblance to the present national capital.A few genealogical records assert that their ancestors of rac This process of absorp ion of other races by the Chinese has un- were from Anwhei province.In this connection the observation doubtedly been going on all over China ever since the Chinese entered the of an Englishman,Major H.R.Davis,in the early nineties are country. most interesting. As far as West Town is concerned,the order of acculturation The migrations of Chinese into the province have sometimes taken the seems to have been somewhat different from that observed by form of conquering armies,of military colonies,or bands of immigrants sent by the Chinese Government from other parts of the empire.In other Davis.In West Town both sexes dress like other Chinese and all women past thirty have bound feet,but everybody speaks Min lers or farmers In all these cases the Chinese Chia as the mother tongue.In addition,most men and fewer migrantshavedoubtlesintermarticdwiththeorigialinhabitants,and women speak the Yunnanese dialect with a local accent race of mixed blood,but of Chinese speech and customs,has thus grown Whether we agree with Davis in specific instances and whether up.After some generations this mixed race would always call themselves West Towners are a mixture of Chinese and earlier inhabitants of Chinamen,and would indignantly scout the idea of a descent from other tribes. the region or are a purer group of earlier inhabitants which has Besides this,of the Chinesehav taken to Chinese culture is not important.In general the facts spread,the neighbouring tribes ave found it conveni appear to tally with the observations of Davis.West Towners are the Chinese language,and to adopt to some extent Chinese customs.A jealous of their claim to Chinese origin and become annoyed when time eventually comes when some of them begin to despise their own suggestions to the contrary are made.West Towners emphasize 24 H.R.Davis,Yu the Limh
20 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 2I the sgregation between the sexes.West Towners heavily guard yard goods store in the town cost ten thousand national dollars and value virginity of unmarried women and chastity of mar- The wages of laborers at that time were about two to three dol- ried women.West Towners have institutionalized the cult of an- lars per day with board. cestors to an astonishing extent.Not only the very powerful and This wealth has certainly added vigor to the emphasison im- wealthy clans but also some ordinary ones establish a separate perial honors,ancestral emoluments,and other traditional ways. clan temple.Every family tries hard to ensure good sites for n recent years it has also been responsible for the establishment its graveyards according to geomancy.Old imperial honors of three modern schools,a hospital,and a public library.The granted from Peking have been and are still highly valued.Else- meaning of these modern institutions will be made clear in one where in China the honors displayed by any family are those at- of the succeeding chapters.Here it suffices to note that the hos- tained by its own members,sometimes two or three generations pital has about twenty beds,one graduate nurse,two doctors of earlier.For each honor attained there would be only one plaque medicine with proper credentials (one was trained in Peiping over one portal of one family home.In West Town,on the other Union Medical College),a number of assistant nurses,and a hand,every honor attained is displayed over the portals of several nurses'training class.It has arrangements for free medicine and family homes.Many families display honors attained by some hospitalization for the poor.The schools are:one middle school, member of the clan who lived ten or more generations ago,in one primary school divided into two parts,and one normal school. Ming Dynasty or even Yuan Dynasty.When real honors are The three combined had a total enrollment of about 1,400 in lacking,imaginary ones are often substituted.These and many 1942.The first and second schools are coeducational.The princi- other things show that West Towners not only are Chinese in pal of the middle school was a local man who had studied in Ts'ing culture but also tend to insist that they are more Chinese in some Hwa University,Peiping. respects than the Chinese in many other parts of China. In spite of these modern institutions,opium smoking among One thing which distinguishes West Town from most rura men over thirty was at the time of this investigation,still preva- towns in China is that it contains a disproportionately large num- lent.2 Not many years ago,before the advent of the power of ber of wealthy families.Some of these families are not merely the Central Government into the province,opium growing was local celebrities.They are rather outstanding even in the larger general.Even asateas4ficlds of opium poppy could bese provincial cities and Kunming.A few years ago the foremost of anywhere outside the walls of Kunming.This sight is no longer these families performed a funeral ceremony that lasted for more common today,especially in the more accessible parts.In the re than two months and cost about one million national dollars.The moter interior of the province,the author has been told,opium is salaries of university professors at that time ranged between four still being grown.Formerly opium growing and trading were the to five hundred dollars a month. main source of income of many West Town families.The prohi- Even the lesser families have considerable means.Soon after bition of its plantation has caused many small farmers to sigh the fabulous funeral,the wedding of the young master of a small about the vanished"Golden Age,"but it has not prevented the maney is"a kind of divination by wealthy families from makingeven greaterprofitou of thenow a世a2 erning opium smoking to c areas in the province see isor fall of future descendants of the family group. to cause the 94Pp.0-1o5,16,21
22 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 23 scarcer supply.This has at least been partly responsible for the Linar Month Day Occasion wealth of West Town. There are three general classes of disasters which West Town ers fear:diseases and epidemics;drought and too much rain;and Birthday of God of the Lower World of Spirits banditry and war.Spirits and gods are the main source of protec- Birthday of Chin Chia tion from practically all these troubles.The yearly cycle of life Birthday of Kitchen God in the community consists largely of periodic offerings to the The Moon Festival (Mid-Autumn Festival) spirits or gods.The following table shows the major annual ritual Birthday of Confucius observances. 9 9 Birthday of Tou Mu RITUAL OBSERVANCES IS Birthday of God of Water (Date varies)Visiting ancestral graveyards Lunar Month Day Occasion 19 Birthday of Sun God offerings to God of Wealth s Kuan Yin I2 8 Birthday of Pa Ch'a Birthday of Yu Hwang 3 God of Kitchen reports to heaven 5 Birthday of T'ien Kuan 30 New Year's Eve;offerings to various gods 58 Birthday of Wen Ch'ang Ritua parade of Buddh through the town Many of these dates are also observed as ritual occasions in IS Birthday of Lao Chu other parts of China,but in West Town instead of being cele- Birthday of Kuan Yin brated by informal offerings,most of the occasions listed above involve formal feasting and a large gathering of celebrants.Each 3 Birthday of Hauan Ti is a sort of temple fair,which elsewhere occurs only three or four ay of God times a year.Moreover,West Town has other celebrations not 16 Birthday of God of Mountain listed above.Scattered throughout the entire community are 20 Birthday of Goddess Niang Niang 28 Birthday of Gung Yueh many temples of local patron gods (Pen Chu).Each of these gods governs one area or village,has a surname,a given name,and a 8 Birthday of Tai Tze ay of God of Fire birthday.Each of these birthdays is celebrated like the regular ones listed above,except that it concerns only the people of the 20 Birthday of Yuan Shih area which is under the tutelage of that particular patron god. Tuan Wu Festival In addition to the above there are other occasions which call 6 Birthday of the Southern Dipper (Nan Tou) for ritual offerings,such as the birth of a child and even the 24 Birthday of Military Sages slaughtering of a pig.Often a family calls in a priest to pray and Birthday of Kuei Hsing (Northern Dipper) read the scriptures for a day.This is called a "prayer for peace- Ancestor worship fulness"and is performed in front of a small altar just outside the Birthday of God of Earth family home
24 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 5 Some of the communal occasions are male affairs;some are should be given the opportunity to do something aboutitin per- female.A number of them are mixed gatherings,where men eat son.This was an elaborate procession,which even the Moham- at one side of the temple and women on the other.The graveyard medans from another village joined in.Normally,West Towners visit in the 3d Moon is one occasion on which men and women of are not on friendly terms with the inhabitants of this Mohamme- the same household,young and old,visit the graves together. dan village. Some of these festivals,such as the Spring Festival,the Ch'ing Needless to say,any ritual occasion involving some festivity Ming visit to ancestral graveyards,and the ancestor-worship fes provides amusement for the local people.Even the cholera prayer tival in the 7th Moon,continue for more than one day. meeting during the worst period of the epidemic served that pur- As stated before,there are three general classes of most-feared pose to some degree.From this point of view,West Towners have disasters.With the exception of ancestor worship,the ccasions plenty of entertainment.On the other hand,there is no concep- for offerings are to insure good relations with the spirits and gods tion of providing recreation in order to increase the efficiency of who might bring about some of these disasters.However,prac- work.This applies to both sexes.There are no cinemas,no regular tically all these occasions are so much a part of the life of the theaters or amusement centers in or near West Town.There is a community that little thought is given to the particular ends theater of Yunnan drama in the district seat about fourteen miles sought during the performance of the offerings.On the other south of West Town.But since transportation facilities are so hand,there areanumber of special services which are performed meager,most people cannot afford the luxury of such a trip. only during a crisis.Ways of dealing with a cholera epidemic However,West Towners do have a certain amount of recrea- have been described and analyzed elsewhere.Against the ban tion apart from ritual affairs.In the evening,many shop doors ditry which threatened the safety of the town,against war and may be found open to welcome neighbours and friends who care possible bombing,against earthquakes (which have taken the to come into the brightly lighted interior for a chat,and little lives of hundreds of West Town), clusters of men stand or squat near some street corner,often near other epidemics the methods used were largely similar to those a food stand.There are two or three tea houses,but they are recent already described as employed during the cholera epidemic.In additions to West Town life and are not yet popular.Generally case of a drought the procedures used differ somewhat.In the they close too early in the evening.The topics discussed at these spring of 1943,when there was a severe drought,the image of the gatherings range from rumors about national affairs and market Dragon God was taken out of his temple and marched in a pro- prices to local rights and wrongs. cession to the source of a spring on top of a mountain north of Generally speaking,the younger people prefer the shops,while West Town.The dragon god was flanked in front by a "dry their elders congregate on the street corners.Therefore prices dragon,”made of cloth,and.behind by a“wet dragon,”made war,adventures in Burma and on the Burma Road,and related of willow branches.The ensemble was kept near the source topics dominate the shop gatherings,while food,local affairs,and of the spring for two nights;then the image of the god was reminiscences of the old days dominate the others. reinstalled in his temple.The idea was that there was some- Somewhat different is the gathering which takes place in a small thing wrong with the source of the spring and that the god "modern"dispensary located in the market square,usually in the afternoon,which is patronized mainly by the small number of literati of the town,including the only surviving cha jen(holder
◆ 26 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION 21 of an imperial degree).Other participants in this gathering are hearty meal upon the food which has just been offered to the gods. the son of one of the wealthiest men in town,recently returned Before the days of the Burma Road,motor transportation was from Hongkong,the cben chang,the local chief of police and scarcely known to this region.A trip to Kunming took about two members of the gentry. or three weeks each way on foot,horseback,or in man-carried Gambling provides another source of amusement.Until 1943 litters.After the opening of the Road the town was soon con- three gambling dens did a thriving business.They were open nightly and sometimes daily.One was in the home of a police nected to it by a sort of branch highway.But very few cars or trucks ever traveled on this road.The principal mode of trans- detective;a second was in the home of the headman of a pao;the portation between West Town and the Road remained as before. third was located in one of the clan temples.In the first den were However,even before the existence of the Road,West Town gathered middle-aged and younger people who went in for big stakes,which in 1943 often ran into five figures.In the second had already felt some modernizing influences.The post office was installed a number of years ago.The sons of local families who den were gathered players of all age levels who went in for smaller went away to study or to trade in Peiping,Shanghai,Hongkong, stakes.In the third were gathered younger people only,and the stakes ran about the same as in the sccond den.The games played Indo-China,and even Japan and the United States have always brought back some new ideas and ways of life.The hospital and always included ma cbiang and poker.All visitors,whether they the schools were organized before World War II.Today there played or not,received free hospitality-food,drink,and a pipe are comparatively few males and females under thirty who are of opium if desired. opium addicts or have bound feet. Apart from gambling in these dens,West Towners enjoy three The war has,of course,disturbed the old social routine. days of general license in gambling every year.These begin on the First there came conscription,which some families succeeded in first day of the First Moon and end on the night of the third day. dodging;secondly,mail service became more frequent;thirdly, For three days and nights old and young crowd into several shops, a missionary college took refuge in the community.Most students which are temporarily turned into open dens,and play,some- of the latter institution came from Lower Yangtze provinces,and times for tremendous stakes. its faculty members consisted of English and American mission- From all these sources of amusement women are entirely ex- aries as well as Chinese.With these outsiders came freer relations cluded.They derive their main sources of recreation from the between the sexes,church services,radios,medical care,a new various annual offerings and the periodic markets.Some of these manner of dress,and other innovations markets take place once in three days;others occur once in six There were two other churches besides that of the college.One days,twelve days,or annually.The men and women who go to was supported by the American Episcopal Mission,the other by these fairs do so for various motives.Most go to buy or to sell,but a theological seminary.A third group of people,who described many go to find out about prices,to inspect various goods,to themselves as "The Little Flock,"also carried on considerable meet friends,or occasionally,to enter into intrigues in love affairs. activity. We have mentioned that some of the offering days are purely fe- male affairs and that others are mixed gatherings.On all such oc- However,forces of tradition are still strong.It was still vividly told in 1943 that a young returner from Hongkong,who had casions women wear their best clothes,make their offerings,and then sit down in circles of five or six in the temple yard to a walked along the street hand-in-hand with his bride,had been drenched with human excrement poured over their heads.Ac-